Consequences
by blackpearl.fantasy
Summary: He grabbed me at the last moment. What if when Jack went down with the Pearl, he took Elizabeth down with him to Davy Jones's Locker? A very different AWEemotions running high, nowhere to escape... That is TRUE LOVE. Sparrabeth.
1. Prologue: Foiled Plan

A/N: Hi! So I've been kind of sitting around with this strange idea in my head. I'll still be writing 'Run Away' but if this one turns out good enough to continue I'll alternate updating the two. Please review!

Disclaimer: I am announcing the part of PotC that belong to me and not Disney--nothing!

* * *

"Jack, the _Pearl_," protested Gibbs. Jack looked at him. 

"She's only a ship, mate," he said quietly.

"He's right, we have to head for land," I said, my plan clear in my mind.

" S'a lot o' open water," said Pintel.

"A lot o' water," echoed Ragetti. I looked out to the island.

"We can get away as it takes down the _Pearl_," said Will. _No, my love, _I thought. _We can get away when my plan succeeds..._

Gibbs nodded. "Abandon ship. Abandon ship or abandon hope!" As they bustled to get supplies, I watched Jack walk slowly away from them, touching a rope here and there, like saying goodbye to an old friend.

I stepped up to him, heart pouding, willing myself to be calm and controlled despite what I was about to do.

"Thank you, Jack," I said, hoping I did not betray the mixed emotions inside me.

He gave a tiny shrug.

"We're not through yet, darling."

"You came back." I forced a tiny smile. "I always knew you were a good man."

We were so close, tension stretched taut between us.

I leaned in.

His lips were heaven.

I was so lost that I nearly forgot what I had told myself repeatedly I had to do.

I pushed him backwards, toward the mast, took my hand away from his back. His hand was at my side, his lips moving passionately in response to mine.

My fingers found the chain.

_Clink._

He stopped. I secured the handcuff and forced my hand to slip away from his.

His lips curved into a small smile. He knew what I had done, and yet he was smiling at me, almost as if he were proud of me, of the plot I had come up with.

"It's after you, not the ship." I said it in a pitch that was higher than usual.

"It's not us," I whispered, my voice shaking.

"This is the only way, don't you see?" I nearly screamed the last part at him, as a way of telling him to forgive me, that I had no other choice.

My last words were a lie, my voice breaking in the middle, trembling from unshed tears. I moved my mouth at first with no sound coming out, and at last I was able to speak.

"I'm not sorry."

I stood there for longer than I had wanted, searching his face. He grinned at me.

"_Pirate_."

My whole body burned from his parting word.

I was a murderer, a plotter, a traitor.

A pirate.

I wanted to run back to Port Royal in my fear of what I had become. I stared at him, tears nearly spilling out, trying to steady my breathing.

I turned to go.

And he grabbed me at the last second.

I writhed and twisted but I could not break out of his grasp. And the way he stared at me--

_He wants to keep holding on to me..._

There was another handcuff on the mast. Despite my strugglings he managed to lock a wrist in it. I glared at him, knowing he had every right.

"Pirate," he repeated, grinning again.

I shook my head and tried to get my hand out of the iron ring.

"You're coming down with me, darling."


	2. Dying

A/N: Thank you for the lovely reviews! I'm so surprised I have so many reviews already. :)

Disclaimer: PotC belongs to Disney.

* * *

**_Third Person Omniscient_**

"Elizabeth!" shouted someone hurriedly, and after a pause, "Jack?"

Elizabeth froze in her struggling. Will. She looked around frantically and tugged at the chain, which naturally didn't budge. She couldn't let him see her shackled to the mast, because Jack would say she had chained him there first, and there could only be one possible way to do that, for Elizabeth... And she couldn't let Will know that...! It still felt like a betrayal.

"Now you've done it," she whispered furiously to Jack, who was fiddling with his own handcuff.

"Will, just go on," Elizabeth called down, hoping to sound convincing, "Jack and I... have a matter on our hands. We'll... we'll swim after you."

In the longboat, Will frowned. _A matter on their hands_... _or another kiss_?

He had the image in his mind, perfectly, their lips locked together, so _passionately_!

_How could Elizabeth do this? We would have been married... I'd fought so hard to take her as my wife, but because of Jack...! _

It was all Jack's fault, the pirate! And now he even dared take Elizabeth away from him! He had to find out what they were doing, and started to climb up the hull.

Elizabeth heard the sound.

_No--he can't..._

"Will--" she began, at a loss for words.

Will paused... _Why does she sound so reluctant?! _

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing!" called Elizabeth immediately, and pulled at the chain. "Don't worry--just go. We'll be fine."

"I want to know what's happening," said Will, and Elizabeth caught the tiny hint of accusation in his voice.

"No!" she shouted, panicking. "Go!" She searched for something to say, something to persuade him to leave. "The--the kraken will be back soon, it's dangerous here. Just row to safety--we'll follow... Won't we, Jack?"

"As soon as we get out of our--situation..." promised Jack.

There was a very pregnant pause.

Will stared up the hull, and suddenly knew he didn't want to see whatever they were doing. He felt sick, and sat back down in the longboat.

_It will be all right. She isn't... like that..._

"What do we do?" asked Ragetti.

Will looked up.

"Do--do as she says," he said finally.

Gibbs stared for a moment before he agreed to let go and start rowing.

On the deck of the _Pearl_, Elizabeth twisted her wrist violently in every way imaginable while Jack had broken a lantern and spilled the oil on his hand, cleverly sliding it out.

"Hand me the lantern," said Elizabeth as he pulled out his hand triumphantly.

Jack held a finger to his chin to consider.

"Should I?" he said. "Ye can't trust that I will."

"Please," said Elizabeth desperately, flashing him a furious look. "Jack--you're a good man, hand it--" she broke off, choking on the horrid stench that had drifted to the ship.

She turned and her eyes widened in shock and horror.

"The kraken..." she whispered, backing away until the chain wouldn't let her move anymore.

Jack froze and turned around very slowly to face the kraken as it opened its enormous mouth, teeth moving inside it. It let out a long slow breath and covered them in yellow strips of saliva, the stench so appalling Elizabeth nearly vomited on the spot. Jack picked up his hat and carefully placed it on his head, and stood to face the kraken already.

"Jack--get--me--out--of--this!" Elizabeth screamed. _Oh what have I done, what have I done, what have I done!_

Jack ignored her. He was watching the kraken closely.

Elizabeth reached out for the lantern and managed to get a few drops of it on her wrist. She twisted it cautiously and slowly slid half of her hand out, but it stuck at her knuckles.

"Damn, Jack, help me!"

At that moment the kraken opened its jaws wide, its teeth piercing the bottom of the _Pearl_, tentacles wrapping themselves around anything they could find, and Jack was being swallowed by it... Elizabeth craned her neck to see what was happening, and she suddenly ducked as a tentacle swerved by her and found the mast to hold. Even through the roar of the kraken she could hear the terrible sound of Jack's beloved _Pearl_ snapping, and she found herself and the whole ship being lifted and stuffed into the creature's mouth, its breath hot and odorous...

_Oh God, I'm dying, I'm dying..._

She turned her face upward in time to see a huge chunk of wood fall toward her...

Will sat paralyzed with shock in the longboat and stared back at the _Pearl _being swallowed by the kraken, one thought frozen in his head.

_Elizabeth is on that ship..._

"ELIZABETH!" he bellowed, crushed by horror, dispair, grief.

_She's gone._

"NO!"

He stood up and stumbled out the boat into the open ocean, swimming frantically toward the spot where he could see the kraken as Gibbs protested behind him, trying to get to her, to Elizabeth, to the love of his life, his fiancee...

And the kraken sank back into the depths of the ocean.

"_No!_ Elizabeth! _ELIZABETH_!"

They had rowed up to him now and were dragging him back into the longboat.

"It's too late," said Gibbs. "It's too late. Jack and Elizabeth have gone down with the _Pearl_."

"It's--all--Jack's--fault--" panted Will, staring still at the spot where his beloved had died.

* * *

_**Elizabeth's POV**_

When I forced my eyes open I was leaning against the mast, my head hurting and a handcuff still around my knuckles. I looked around.

The _Pearl_ had been restored perfectly, any damages done by the kraken now invisible. The air was hot and windless, and the ship was completely still. And Jack was watching me from the side.

"Where are we?" I asked suspiciously.

He sighed. "In the Locker."

"Davy Jones's Locker?"

"Aye. Thanks to your contribution."

He had caught me by surprise and I could feel my cheeks turn warm. The silence was unbearable.

"Could you at least get me free of this?" I held up my hand.

"Get yourself out," muttered Jack.

I closed my eyes for a moment and opened them again.

"_Please_."

"I'll consider it," smirked Jack with a bitter tone, and after a moment, he said pointedly, "No."

"Jack—"

"Listen here, _Miss Swann_," snapped Jack. "Do I have any reason at all to help you now? You tried to kill me—and by the looks of it ye've succeeded—and who knows what the hell you might do next. I don't quite see your reasoning at work but I for one am not planning to set you loose while I'm in me personal Hell. Savvy?"

"I thought you were a good man!" I insisted. "Jack, I _swear_ you're not losing anything!"

"True, as the rum's gone anyway," he said, "but do I gain anything? No."

"Do you only do things if you profit from them?" I demanded. _Oh if only he were Will! _

He shrugged. "Pirate."

And he stood back to watch smugly as I struggled to pull my hand free of the handcuff. There was no more oil in the lantern and nothing else I could use.

_Stupid pirate, I should have been aware of what he would do! _

_It was the most _perfect _plan, it would have worked like magic! _

I sighed and leaned back against the mast.

And finally Jack walked to me exasperatedly, grabbed my hand roughly and slid it out of the cuff unceremoniously, and walked away to the captain's cabin, slamming the door behind him.

I looked at his shut doors curiously before rubbing my hand.

_Why—Oh Elizabeth, you've _killed _him, of course he's angry with you. And he had every reason to kill you too! _

I climbed slowly up the mast, staring at nothing but the wood while I did so, to get a better view of what Davy Jones's Locker looked like.

_I hope there's a way to get out of here. I'm never going to live with Jack like this for eternity. _

_It really is Hell, isn't it? _

I could only half-believe that I was actually dead.

_If you hadn't did it you wouldn't be here. _

_But everyone else has gotten out alive! It would have worked, I would have been able to leave with Will and we wouldn't have to worry about anything! We could have settled somewhere, gotten married _properly…

_You couldn't live with yourself for what you've done. _

_Jack had a debt to pay! And I… paid it for him… It went awry, that's all. It wasn't the best thing to do but I had no other plan in mind! _

I was sick and tired of arguing with myself, this habit I'd developed since I had taken the Letters of Marque. I climbed into the crow's nest and looked down.

There was no sea.

It was an endless desert, completely flat, completely empty, nothing but the white sandy ground and the _Pearl_ lodged firmly in it, alone in the nothingness.

I leaned against the railing of the crow's nest and covered my face with my hands. I couldn't stand the sight before me. It was the worst luck I could ever imagine—stuck in Davy Jones's Locker, a vast desert with nowhere to go, with nobody but Captain Jack Sparrow as a companion, for eternity.

_Eternity?! _

I had killed Jack, he had killed me, and we were in Hell.

_That's your consequence. _

My consequence. My consequence for trying to send Jack somewhere far _far_ away. I had ended up stuck with him instead.


	3. Jack's Offer

A/N: Thank you for all the reviews!

Disclaimer: Disney owns PotC.

* * *

**_Will_**

I stood frozen to the floor with shock at the man who had descended the stairs in Tia Dalma's hut, living, breathing, before me. I had seen him die and here he was…

But I did not focus on him for long. My thoughts were on Elizabeth. I refused to believe still that she had been taken by the kraken.

My Elizabeth. My darling. My fiancée. Captured. Dead. Gone.

No. I would find her. I would save her. And I would be sure Jack knew not to touch her.

Jack. I gritted my teeth.

_How could she kiss him like that?! _

For a moment I let myself believe that Jack had forced her, but only a child could think of it. It hadn't been forced, it had been voluntary. And she had done it with such passion...

_And she had wanted to stay behind for a while, with Jack..._

I wanted to kill him.

I turned my attention back to Barbossa, eating the apple with relish, then glanced at Tia Dalma. She was smiling ever so faintly. Of course. A witch. She brought him back.

"When do we set out?" I asked.

"We'd be needing some charts that are in the hands of Sao Feng," said Barbossa.

"Sao Feng?"

"Pirate Lord of the South China Sea," he replied, stroking his monkey. "He's in Singapore."

Singapore. I had only heard that once, mentioned in passing by a merchant in Port Royal, and it had sounded like somewhere infinitely far away, untouchable, unreachable. _No. Not unreachable. We have to get there, to get the charts, to save Elizabeth! _I paused in my thoughts, and grudgingly admitted to myself, _And Jack. _I really only needed the _Pearl_, come to think of it. To save my father.

"So we sail… to Singapore?"

"Aye," said Barbossa. "Then we sail t' the end of the world, and fetch my ship."

My _ship, soon, _I thought.

* * *

**_Elizabeth_**

I climbed down from the crow's nest and went belowdecks. The hold, rum cellar, cabins were all intact. The entire ship was in perfect condition to sail--on an endless desert island with no wind. It was too unbearably hot to stay below so I sat on deck, sawing at a piece of wood for nearly the entire day. My mind was dulled by the heat and still silence, but I tried to think.

_Bloody Jack. _

I couldn't believe I was blaming Jack for this. _I _had been the one to distract him, _I_ had chained him to the mast, _I_ had been prepared to kill him. But _he_ had ruined my carefully constructed plan.

What could he possibly mean by taking me along too? It wasn't being of any benefit of him! _What can I do here for him? _The ship was bound not to budge an inch where it was lodged; we would never make it out of here. Perhaps he just wanted revenge... A life for a life, simply to show me I couldn't get away with trying to kill _Captain Jack Sparrow_. I rolled my eyes angrily at the thought. Or perhaps... he _wanted_ me here.

I told myself not to be stupid. We had never, as I remembered, gotten along well. I had been the aristocrat and he the lowly despicable pirate.

_"You _will _come to my side, luv."_

I opened my mouth to say something to myself but stopped in the middle of contemplating it.

He... yes, he liked me, I knew that. I didn't know in what way, probably seeing me as a Tortuga wench or something of that sort. (I shied disgustedly from that thought) But whatever it was, what better time could he make me "come to his side", could he... try to seduce me when we were completely alone on his ship, in the middle of absolutely nowhere, where we would most likely be for at least too long to count?

I closed my eyes. _I'm looking at it far too logically, _I thought wildly, looking for a reason this couldn't be true.

And so I sat on deck for the day in the smothering heat, unwillingly half-convinced that Jack had killed me because he wanted me in Hell with him. Because he wanted me with him in Hell. Because he wanted me. With him. (in Hell)

By nightfall I couldn't bear it any longer. I couldn't bear anything any longer. I burst into Jack's cabin rudely.

"We have to get out."

"I beg you propose a method, as I have none," Jack said calmly.

I thought for a moment.

"Neither have I."

"Ah, that makes two of us. See, we are _very_ alike."

I rolled my eyes.

"We can think of _something_."

"Of course!" said Jack, mock-cheerful. "I'd love to have you help me think of an idea, especially since your _last_ plan, if I remember correctly, proved quite beneficial to both of us!"

I opened my mouth and closed it again. I had imagined, for some strange reason, that during the time we remained silent that entire day, there had been an unspoken truce that neither of us would mention _that_… And now his words stung like a whiplash across my face and my cheeks burned with guilt.

"It—it was the only way we could get out alive—"

"_I _didn't abandon any of you," Jack pointed out, "and you thanked me… with that…"

"But that's your duty as captain!" I exclaimed. _Why is he torturing me?! _I knew I shouldn't have killed him, but he was here purposefully telling me, making me guilty, making it hurt.

"Generally crew members obey and respect their cap—"

"Stop!" I cried. "Stop—please." To my surprise he ceased talking as I sat down in a chair, everything that was happening, that had happened, swirling around me. I shook my head dizzily and felt something wet on my face.

_Why are you crying? _

But I knew. Because I'd done something terrible, horrific, unthinkable. And only know I'd seen the result. We'd be here forever, and I with the guilt forever reminding me…

_You're so damn stupid_, I cursed myself. Always acting first and never thinking of what might happen, never thinking of the consequences…!

Jack watched me wipe my eyes with the tip of my sleeve.

"I just want to get out," I sobbed. "I want to be with Will again. We were supposed to be married! We would be living together now, in Port Royal, and nothing like this would ever have happened if… Maybe we should have just let you be hanged," I muttered.

"I beg your pardon?"

I closed my eyes, shaking my head furiously. No, no, no, I did not say that. As if I hadn't harmed him enough. _Again, Elizabeth, there you are again jumping headlong into something without a single thought! _

"No, forget I said that," I whispered, opening your eyes. "I just want to get out. There has to be some way."

"Aye, there is, luv."

I was briefly surprised he could still call me 'luv,' but he said there was a way?

"What way?" I asked tentatively.

"Go to sleep and dream that you escape."

I frowned desperately.

"Jack—"

"All right, there is possibly another way but I will only tell you if you agree to be slightly... ah, friendlier."

I blinked. "What?"

"Let's put it like this--we both know you've deceived me so you'll be following me orders, and you'll be helping _me._"

"What are you talking about?"

"Our world will be at conflict, I trust you to be aiding my cause."

"Your cause? Do you mean anything that would make _you_ rich or something?"

Jack smirked. "Lizzie dear, welcome to the world of pirates. I'd thought you must have gotten used to it by now."

"Oh, I have," I muttered. _I've become one._

"You haven't agreed yet," hinted Jack.

"No, I haven't," I said. "What's going to happen to me if I do?"

"Oh, various things," said Jack vaguely.

I couldn't help smiling faintly at this.

"I'll give you an answer in the morning."

"Going to have your little dream about escaping then?"

"Yes," I said shortly. "Goodnight."

I found a soft bolt of cloth to use as a pillow from belowdecks and laid it on deck. It was far too suffocating in the cabins, so I lay down under the stars.

It was a while before I was comfortable enough to fall asleep, but when I woke up I found myself lying on deck with Jack asleep by my side, and my face snuggled in his chest.


	4. Hoist the Colours

A/N: Thank you for the wonderful reviews!

Disclaimer: PotC belongs to Disney.

* * *

I felt my breath catch in my throat and sat up cautiously. I didn't want to wake him. I didn't want to talk. Standing up, I noticed with some form of relief that I was _fully dressed. _

_Oh God, Elizabeth what are you _thinking_?! He couldn't have done anything. No, if he'd done anything..._

No. I didn't want to think about it.

It was just the heat. He came to sleep on deck too, and it was an accident. He'd rolled over, somehow. Miraculously, there had been wind in the night. He'd been pushed over. He simply _hadn't_ lain there on purpose. No. No.

I knelt down and watched him sleep for a while, half of me screaming to go away, half of me... curious? My eyes traveled down his body and finally landed on his compass.

_"It points to what you want most."_

I thought about it. I wanted most to escape now. To be with Will. To get away and never see any pirates again in my life.

I gently untied the compass from his belt, and balanced it carefully in my hand. It was heavier than I remembered, as if somehow, I was carrying everyone's fate in my hands. I was. Wherever it would point, I was going to follow it.

_It pointed to Jack before._

That was a mistake. He was simply... standing in front of where the Chest was. Yes. He was not who I wanted most, he was not. And he would never be.

_It's very simple, Elizabeth. He was just in the way. I do not want Jack. _

I opened the compass lid.

It pointed to Jack.

_Oh, God. _

I snapped the compass shut and rubbed a hand on the side of my face. What was happening to me?

_Nothing. Jack's just in the direction of escape. _

I walked to the railing, swung one leg over, and quietly climbed down the side of the _Pearl_. I dropped carefully to the ground and sat there on the hard sandy surface. The air was the same--hot, still, suffocating. I opened the compass again. It pointed in the direction of the bow. _Or where Jack is. _I gritted my teeth, trying to block out my thoughts. If there was any possible way for the ship to _move_... I walked to the bow and looked up at the ship. It towered above me, magnificent, powerful. There was no way two people could move it across a desert. I tugged hard on one of the ropes securing it to the ground. It didn't move an inch. I sighed desperately and pulled harder.

"Oi."

I looked around. Jack stood at the bow, watching me.

"I'd rather you not damage me ship," he said.

"Jack, help me," I said, "We have to move the ship. I know which direction to go in. If we could get it to open water, we can escape."

"Stole me compass, aye?"

"Jack," I said exasperatedly. "Please. We have to get the _Black Pearl_ to sea!"

He considered it.

"Very well. But are you accepting the offer from yesterday?"

I blinked. _Oh, that offer. _

If he could get me back to Will it would be enough.

"Yes."

Jack grinned. He swung down from the _Pearl_ and shook my hand.

"What was your plan?" I asked.

"I propose that we call upon the help of the Brethren Court," said Jack, pulling something out of his dreadlocks with a flourish. I glanced at it--a few beads and something made of silver.

"The Brethren Court...?" I had heard of it, in the books I'd read, perhaps, but I couldn't remember what it was.

"Aye. The nine Pirate Lords who gather to make decisions about what is best for the pirates. Or, if you will, the nine Pirate Lords who gather to try to make everything advantageous for themselves individually, and end up having an enormous fight every time."

"And how could you ask _them_?"

"Well, that would be very simple. Every Pirate Lord, dearie, has a Piece of Eight. They use it to call a meeting. Darling, may I present to you, a Piece of Eight." He held his charm out to me.

"You're... a Pirate Lord?"

"Aye," said Jack, smirking. "Captain Jack Sparrow, Pirate Lord of the Caribbean Sea."

"Although," he said, more to himself, "I do owe every Pirate Lord money..."

I pressed my lips together impatiently.

"You want to call a meeting of the Brethren Court?"

"Aye. Meetings are held in the town of Shipwreck, in Shipwreck Cove, on Shipwreck Island. Trust me, luv, do _not_ ever show any interest in toponomy. You'd be dead of boredom before you were halfway through, and that would prove most unfortunate as we are trying to get out of here and you'd be needed getting us out of here. Savvy?"

"If you call a meeting and the pirates gather at Shipwreck Cove, we'd have to go to Shipwreck Cove and we _can't_. We're _trying to get out of the Locker._"

"Ah, here's the genius part of me plan, darling," he said. "At every meeting every Pirate Lord with his Piece of Eight must be present. I call a meeting, they gather in Shipwreck Cove, they discover that I'm missing and they have no choice but to come and rescue me and the _Pearl_!"

"Us," he added hastily. "Us and the _Pearl._"

I frowned. I couldn't find anything wrong with his plan, but I felt like it wouldn't work.

After a while's thought I said slowly, "How can you call a meeting?"

" 'Hoist the Colours'. The song that must be sung. Every Pirate Lord can hear it through their Piece of Eight. We've had a merry fine time singing last time, what do you say, Lizzie?"

I looked at him with ridicule.

"Wouldn't anyone wonder _why_ you called a meeting?"

Jack held a finger to his chin, considering.

"I'm sure they would," he said cheerfully.

"Jack!" I exclaimed. "They'd know the moment you don't show up that you called a meeting to make them rescue you!"

"Oi," he said irritatedly. "There's no rum here and I'd rather not be upset!"

* * *

**_Cabin Boy_**

I was the last person in the group to be brought up to gallows. I could feel the stares as I struggled to climb up the steps in my chains and stood on the last trapdoor.

_This is it. This is death._

I turned the silver coin over in my hand. The drums were loud on the towers.

_This is my last chance to do my duty. I have nothing to lose now anyway._

The song was clear in my mind. In the distance I could see Cutler Beckett sitting. I turned away and opened my mouth.

"_The king and his men, stole the queen from her bed, and bound her in her bone. The seas be ours and by the powers,_" I paused, voice faltering. The drums were struck again. "_Where we will, we'll roam._"

The executioner lifted me on a barrel before securing the noose around my neck.

_I have to finish the song._

And all of a sudden, as I knew would happen, the rest of the people began to sing with me.

"_Yo ho, haul together. Hoist the colours high!_"

I could see him walking to the lever already. I took a last breath.

"_Heave ho, thieves and beggars, never shall we die!_"

_I've done it. I've called the meeting. The pirates have a chance to survive._

He pulled the lever.

* * *

**_Elizabeth_**

I watched in astonishment as he held his Piece of Eight to his ear, his lips curved in a faint, triumphant smile. He passed the Piece of Eight to me, and I lifted it to my ear. I could hear the voices. They weren't loud, but they were strong.

"_Heave ho, thieves and beggars, never shall we die_!"

I brought the Piece of Eight back down and stared at Jack excitedly. So Beckett was hanging all the pirates.

_That's terrible._

But we would be able to escape. A Brethren Court meeting had been called.

"Well, luv," said Jack, grinning, "Methinks we have a change in the wind."


	5. Mutual Loathing

A/N: Thank you, _thank you_ for all the amazing reviews!

Disclaimer: Disney owns PotC.

* * *

**_Elizabeth_**

Nothing happened in the few days that followed. I spent literally the entire first day lying on deck, staring at the vast endless sky and wondering when anyone would come rescue us.

_A change in the wind indeed, _I thought with sarcasm. _Now we've succumbed to just _waiting

_Of course, there's the chance that nobody will come at all and I'll be here with Jack Sparrow 'til the end of time._

I tried to tell myself not to think such depressing thoughts. _It should be easier to think happier thoughts now, seeing as it will be _most likely _that someone should come rescue us soon. _

But strangely, despite the fact that (or perhaps even _because_) it was nearly certain that we would be seeing people sometime (and hopefully, in the very near future), the time seemed even longer, even more drawn-out, the heat more intense, if that was even possible, the tension between us worse than ever. There was such a bitter hatred between us that I could even notice very easily how we stiffened whenever we saw each other, how we glared at each other when we passed like dogs ready to snap at an enemy the moment it came too close. It was as if this loathing was so fierce that it even more complete than complete loathing; it had been brought to the very extreme, as if we had hated each other since our birth, as if the very core of our existence was to hate each other.

I could still remember the shock I'd felt when I had woken up from my first night in the Locker.

_What was he trying to do?!_

No. I didn't want to know.

So I waited. Four days. I had made a sundial on the ground, and I couldn't stop looking at it, counting the minutes, willing the shadow to move...

Four days. Four days, exactly the same, and I spent every waking minute watching the sundial, watching the distant horizon, looking for whoever would come and save me from the heat, the emptiness, the terrible companion I had.

On the fifth day after we had heard the song being sung, I stormed into Jack's cabin furiously. My temper had burst, my patience snapped. I was exhausted from waiting, bored to tears; I needed to vent, I needed something to scream at, something to hit.

* * *

**_Jack_**

As I sat down at my desk the door banged open like a gunshot and I jumped a little in the seat. I turned to see Elizabeth--the lovesick murderess Elizabeth--standing in the doorway with an expression like thunder. I glared at her annoyedly. What was _she_ doing here?

"Why hasn't anyone come yet?" she demanded. "It's been five days. _Five days_! That's plenty of time to sail."

"Seeing as you evidently know nothing of the end of the world, I suggest you not to make assumptions about the location of this place," I said stiffly.

"But you said they'd _come_! There's been no sign of anything!"

"Elizabeth--oh do forgive me--Miss Swann, dearie," I said sardonically, "If you weren't so absorbed in your own selfish little affairs you could listen to me right now and learn much more than your pretty little head contains."

I could see so much in her expression--she looked embarrased, guilty, most of all horrifiedly shocked.

"_Me_?" she cried, her voice even louder, her eyes frenzied and intense, "_Me_? _I'm _selfish? _I'm selfish_?! Well, look at _you_! That entire time you _knew_ the kraken was coming after you, and it never occured once to you to sacrifice yourself for the sake of everyone else! _Not once_! What choice did I have? I had to do it! It was the only way--the only way any of us would survive! Can't you see?! You can't have everything, much as you'd like to think, _pirate--_" she spat that last word out "--you have to give something up, and you were the only one we _could _give up!"

By the end of her rant her expression was drawn, she took deep breaths to steady herself. She must have been keeping all that bloody frustration (frustration at _me_, stupid girl) inside, and she looked as if she was about to faint. She sat down on my bed, the nearest available seat, and stayed there silently with her eyes closed. I could see the small rising and falling her chest made with her soft breathing. Her hair fell down her shoulders, copper, amber, honey, gold, in the dim light. It was so _gorgeous_, I wanted to reach out and touch it...

_Ye _hate_ her, _I thought as she lowered her head.

Suddenly, I saw another movement in her, more subtle, but becoming more and more noticeable. Her entire body, that had sat there rigid, defiant, unbreakable, was different now... She was _shaking, _her shoulders hunched, and her chest looked like it was vibrating with the shuddering breaths that she took. And there was another sound, sniffles, her short, gasping breathing... I wouldn't believe it--I had only seen Elizabeth Swann, the fierce, rebellious warrioress, crying once before, a few days ago, but _now_, after she'd just poured all her anger at me?!--until I saw the tears glistening on her cheeks.

* * *

**_Elizabeth _**

I bit my lower lip in a desperate attempt to stop the tears, but they came still, pouring down my face. I gasped for air, my throat closing, chest heaving. My stomach hurt as my body responded to the crying, as I tried to control myself, tried not to fall forward bawling.

I looked up, my vision blurring and refocusing. Jack stared at me. He looked surprised, and I must have looked embarassed--my cheeks were burning. But I couldn't stop. I shook my head, not knowing what I was doing, why, how I would ever escape this place... And the world was spinning around me, everything blurred yet so painfully crystal clear at the same time (oh, it must be the heat...!)... I could feel the wet salty tears on my face, and I was still struggling to breathe normally while my throat convulsed, and I was trying to speak, but I didn't know what to say, what I wanted to say...

And all of a sudden, he was holding me. He had his arms around my trembling body, pulled me up, and let me lean on him with my head resting on his shoulder. I closed my eyes again, squeezing out more tears.

"Why does this--have to--happen?" I sobbed. "I didn't mean--no, I did... I--I--"

Jack stroked my hair and I could feel myself calming down.

"I--" I tried again.

"Lizzie," whispered Jack. "We'll wait. They're coming, I swear. Just wait."

"I _can't--_"

Jack tilted my head toward him with a finger under my chin, and stared at me. I wondered what he was thinking. A moment before we were at a mutual loathing... No, we were still at a mutual loathing... No...

He moved his face closer, and gently, very gently, his lips met mine. I responded immediately, remembering how it felt to kiss him, and I forgot everything. I kissed him back. I wanted to feel it, I needed to feel it... And when we broke away I gasped, breathing heavily, never taking my eyes off him.

_He's so alluring.

* * *

_

**_Will_**

I stood on the deck of the _Empress, _still shaken from what I'd just done. I'd made a deal with Sao Feng. I would get the _Pearl_, he would get Jack. I could chase the _Dutchman _and free my father now.

Barbossa was yelling orders and Tia Dalma was observing the running about on deck. I ignored it and watched the water, bringing us closer. Every second I was closer. To the _Pearl_. To Elizabeth.

I closed my eyes for a moment and imagined what it would be like to see her again. How I missed her. I could feel her hair at my fingertips, her lips on mine... I thought about it, in my fantasy, as she ran up to me and embraced me and kissed me and whispered to me that she loved me.


	6. Betrayal

A/N: Thank you for all the wonderful reviews! Oh and AWE DVD came out! Yay!

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

* * *

_**Elizabeth**_

I couldn't stop staring at him, my mind only half-registering the excitement.

_What am I doing?! I just kissed Jack… again… on purpose? _

No, the first time it had been on purpose. And I couldn't kill him _again_.

_I kissed him… I kissed him! On purpose… and because I _wanted _to? Not for any selfish reason besides that I… _wanted_ to…?!_

No, this wasn't possible.

_But it's happening!_

He pulled me close to him again, eyes feverish, and once again his lips touched mine, and once again I kissed him back, eagerly, passionately. I could feel my heart beating a thousand times faster, blood rushing through my body.

"What are you doing?" I whispered finally, one half of my mind telling myself to stop. We hated each other, we had killed each other, and here we were, our lips sealed together every few moments, madly… I couldn't do that, and I was engaged to Will! What would he think? He would be furious…!

_He'll never know._

I couldn't!

And yet the feel of his arms around me… It was so beautifully addicting that I couldn't make myself push him away. Wasn't this really what I wanted most in the world? Wasn't this what the compass had pointed to?

_No, no! I don't want this... I _can't_ want this._

_Don't, or can't?_

_I _don't, I convinced myself firmly.

Yet still I could remember the small thrill I felt every time he spoke to me, that time he stroked my face, telling me about curiosity, what I wanted. And the most amazing thing of all, that he had been _right. _

_He's only a smart man, _I told myself. _A smart and… detestable man. I don't like him at all. I love Will. I _love_ Will. _

It would be so selfish of me to be doing this with Jack while Will was away, alone. I couldn't do anything else selfish again. I had to stop.

Why was it so hard to finally force myself to push away from Jack? Why didn't it make any sense?

"What are _you_ doing, luv?"

"I can't," I said softly. "I'm all but married. To Will. And we won't be here for much longer. You said that, didn't you?"

Jack paused. "Aye…"

"We can't—we can't get involved in anything further than this… situation of being in the Locker. We'll be leaving here soon, we can't. And Will…" I couldn't believe the words I was saying. What was I thinking, that we _could_ possibly be involved in anything further than this? It was insane, absurd.

_Is it?_

I thought of the compass, of waking up to find Jack lying beside me, of his willing, fiery kiss.

I looked up at Jack with a measure of shock, our eyes locking for a split second before I looked away.

"Of course, the whelp comes first, darling," said Jack somewhat pleasantly.

I walked out of the cabin as quickly as I could.

* * *

_**Will**_

I had never known the world could be so cold. Snow was falling on deck, pure sparkling white, the ship surrounded by glistening icebergs, the water dark and still. The crew members were huddled in blankets, talking amongst themselves. The wind tore bitterly at my face but I didn't turn away from it. I welcomed the cold. The cold told me we were sailing in the right direction, toward the end of one world, the beginning of the next.

I couldn't stop thinking about Elizabeth. Rescuing her was the only thing that occupied my mind. I could imagine finally, _finally _marrying her, after all those years of dreaming, waiting, hoping that she would reciprocate my feelings for her.

* * *

_**3rd Person**_

Captain Sao Feng, standing aboard his warship the _Empress_, looked suspiciously through his telescope at the figure in the distance. He adjusted the length for a moment and focused on it again, cursing when he realized what it was.

He didn't have much of a choice besides to wait and find out whether or not the _Endeavour _would attack. It didn't, instead moving smoothly beside the _Empress_. Cutler Beckett grabbed a rope and swung aboard Sao Feng's ship.

Sao Feng drew his sword immediately.

"You may put away your weapons, pirate," said Beckett coldly. "I am here to negotiate, although if you are not willing then you can be easily destroyed with everyone else."

"What is it that you want from me?" spat Sao Fend, sheathing his sword with narrowed eyes. "I will give you Jack Sparrow if you keep me and my people safe from your war."

"Yes, I had heard that you have been able to convince Turner to give you Sparrow," said Beckett, betraying no hint of emotion. "Quite impressive."

Sao Feng said nothing, thinking of how concealed he had been convinced he and Turner were at the time. It must have been Mercer, then, spying.

"So you would give Turner the _Black Pearl_?" Beckett continued. "The fastest ship in the world besides the _Flying Dutchman_?"

"What is it that you want?" repeated Sao Feng.

"I will make a deal with you," said Beckett decidedly. "When Sparrow and his rescuers arrive back in the _Black Pearl_, you can turn everyone over to me, namely Sparrow, Barbossa, Turner, Swann. And you, can keep the _Black Pearl._"

Sao Feng stared at him.

"Think about it," said Beckett. "The second fastest ship in the world. And Sparrow dead."

Beckett watched him consider.

"There will be many betrayals before this is over," said Beckett. "Because in this war nobody considers what anyone else wants. Best make your decision quickly, pirate, before you are double-crossed yourself."

Finally, Sao Feng spoke.

"Agreed. I will give you the crew. You will give me the _Black Pearl_."

Beckett extended his hand, and Sao Feng gripped it, and shook.


	7. Desire

_**Elizabeth**_

_The compass, the compass, the compass…_

It was always pointing to him. Always. Since the first time I'd held it in my hands, I had thought of what I wanted. The thing I wanted most, all of my other desires thrown away for this one thing.

What had I thought of then, with his face so close to mine, whispering to me, hands gesturing. I had thought desperately. Will. I had wanted to find him. That was my heart's greatest wish. To find Will.

_"By finding the Dead Man's Chest," said Jack persuasively, and shockingly, I was thinking of the Dead Man's Chest, yielding to his suggestion. _

Why was the compass pointing to him?

What if I _did_ want Jack? What if truly I wanted Jack instead of Will? Jack much more than Will?

_How can it be possible?_

It couldn't. No, I couldn't admit that, not to anyone. _And it's _not_ true anyway, _I insisted.

But somehow, I could still feel his lips… And somehow, for an even stranger incomprehensible reason, I _wanted_ to feel it, to really feel it, instead of the memory. It was insane, this longing, and yet it was there, too real for me to have imagined it. It was like I had been dying of thirst, had taken one sip of water, and I needed more, had to have it—it was a mad, frenzied desire.

I tried unsuccessfully to drive that desire from my mind. _It _can't_ be true. I _can't_ possibly be wanting him. He's… he's a _pirate. _And I'm… _A governor's daughter? _Hardly anymore. But… I'm engaged still to Will! And I _love_ Will! _And yet I could think of our moments together on his ship, the way his fingers stroked my skin, his voice, captivating, in my ears.

And the kiss…

There were other ways to trick him to the mast. I could admit that to myself. I could admit that I had chosen to kiss him. I had wanted to feel his lips kissing me, I had been drawn under some kind of spell—he was alluring, enchanting, breathtakingly so.

So I wanted him. I closed my eyes, sitting on deck, contemplating it. The very thought was terrifying, but somehow I could sit there, breathing deeply, accepting it. _What about…?_

No, I couldn't accept that. There was no truth in _that_—that word, and associating it with Jack Sparrow… No, that could never happen. That would never happen. That word, I didn't even want to think about it while I thought about Jack—and why _why _was I thinking about Jack?!

I calmed my mind a little before focusing again, desperately, on that kiss. It had been the most amazing feeling in the world, and I held onto it like holding onto the last few minutes of wonderful, warm, blissful sleep. I held onto it like holding onto a dream, a beautiful sweet indulgence before I found myself once again in the actual world.

It felt like a sin to be wanting him. I felt like a devil, like I'd done something terrible in simply _wanting. _And I let the guilt of betraying Will burn through me before I considered the situation. Was I supposed to feel so ashamed that I craved something that wasn't what I had? Was it a crime to simply want? I wasn't taking Will for granted… It simply seemed… that wasn't _enough_. Jack was enough—adventurous, alluring, mysterious… I wanted to once again taste the rich exoticness of his lips, inhale the scent of him, an old smell that somehow was faintly sweet at the same time…

One half of my mind was screaming. How could I think such thoughts? If anything, he was descpicable, as I had told him when I first met him. But I was trapped here with him in some sort of personal hell, thinking of him, dreaming of him, while I waited for someone to come rescue me so I could see my _fiancée _again!

And the other half… was thinking. Thinking, with rich desire flooding my thoughts. Was it bad to want someone else while the one I had loved me so dearly? Was it wrong…?

Everyone_ wants things. Doesn't _everyone _yearn for something more…? Am I no worse than anyone else?_

Why did she have to be born so wild? She could settle with living a quiet life in Port Royal once it was over, but she'd have to live forever with that longing in her heart, that terrible desperate need for something _more_…

I lay down on deck and stared up at the sky. Somewhere, under those same stars, I could imagine Will standing. He would never think of the thoughts _I _was thinking about another woman. He was kind and loyal and he would never betray me, and I knew that even if he had found interest in someone else, he would never go near her… And I couldn't even deny myself the wanting.

The wanting, the longing, the desire. For Jack.

I closed my eyes.

_What have I done with my life?_

Something was burning my eyelids. I opened them cautiously to see the sun blazing in the sky, and wondered how long I had been awake the night before with my eyes closed, thinking of Jack—his arms, his voice, his lips, imagining him before me.

_It's just the absence of Will that's making me do this, _I thought, horrified. Suddenly, I sat up, looked around, and drew in a quick breath. There he was, _again. _Jack, lying next to me.

_So close…_

I tried to drive the thoughts of (I shuddered) lust from my mind, but he drew me toward him, and it frightened me how easily I bent down to him, how willingly I did so. Gently, I pressed my lips to his and closed my eyes, deepening the kiss.

And with a shock I found him kissing me back. My eyes flew open as I realized I'd woken him, and I pushed him off in alarm.  
"I didn't—" I started before telling myself it was pointless. "I just—" I stopped completely.

"Ye felt a sudden passing fancy for it?" suggested Jack, smirking wonderfully.

"I…" I said. "No. I—no."

I stood up quickly and started to walk to the railing.

"Fine by me," called Jack after me, "Ye're welcome to do that again, darling."

I turned around to stare at him.

And finally, decidedly, I said, "Yes. I mean—no. Yes, a fancy. But no, more than that."

_**Will**_

Closer.

We were getting closer, and closer, to World's End. To the Locker. To Elizabeth…!

The water wasn't motionless as it was before in the frozen ice-world. Here it was violent, slapping against the hull. It flowed. It was different here, another sea, one that led to another world.

We gained speed every day. Nobody had told me what would happen, but I had faith. _Elizabeth, my darling, I'm coming for you! _

I would see her soon.


	8. Going Mad

A/N: Thank you for the wonderful reviews!

(sigh) Go on, then. Murder me for not updating. I deserve it, I know.

Disclaimer: I do not own PotC.

* * *

**_Elizabeth_**

A passing fancy.

_That's all. I have passing fancies all the time. It's nothing more than that. Like seeing sweets at the market in Port Royal. But I don't long for them when I'm home again. It's just a passing fancy. When I see Will again it will all be over. Forgotten. And they must be coming soon, after all, so I will see Will before very long. I will see Will. We could get married at last. They'll be here, to rescue us, and perhaps even Will would be there. When we get married we wouldn't be able to live in Port Royal, for certain. I've always wanted a small cottage somewhere. Perhaps we could have one on a distant island. _

I involuntarily sighed with a measure of relief as my thoughts moved slowly away from Jack. I didn't want to face it yet—this possibility lurking in a corner of my mind, the fear that it could be true. Yet, as slowly my halfhearted conjuring of island cottages gave way to him again, I felt something else there… Something strange, new to me. A thrill? There was some of that in it. And suddenly, as realization hit me, I tried desperately to go back into my childhood fantasies, ones where only Will was involved, ones that I had dreamed up long before I had the misfortune to meet a pirate. As I stood by the railing staring blankly at the stretch of white sand before me, the compass in my hands, I understood.

And I wanted to run.

From the kiss (the _kisses_), waking up to find him beside me, standing in his arms, that fiery desire, the compass...

Not the compass. I would need it.

But I wanted to run from anything and everything else, and especially what was happening to me, this... _barbaric _thing that was happening to me...

"I'm leaving," I said decidedly. I grabbed a rope and lowered myself onto the ground. I wouldn't need any food or water--I wasn't alive anymore. I lifted the lid of the compass and tried hard to think only of Will. The needle spun around and around, so fast it was only a blur of red, but it didn't stop. I sighed and impatiently closed the compass with a snap.

"Oi!" called Jack exasperatedly from the railing. "Ye can't walk through the Locker, ye'll go mad."

"I'm already mad," I retorted, slipping the compass into my pocket. "I had to be, at least, to have had the... passing fancy." And to avoid further conversation with him, I marched off in a random direction, praying it was the right one.

"Wish you the best of luck," Jack shouted in mock-cheeriness. "Let me know if ye find anything."

I ignored this and continued walking, my breaths even and controlled, like I was trying to be.

"Namely, rum, dearie."

I shut his voice out of my mind and focused my range of view on the horizon, that flat line in the distance, never ending, sharp and clear. In a few minutes I was panting from the heat. I took off my coat and, having no other use for it, put it on the ground and left it there.

And standing up again, I saw something out of the corner of my eye. I shook my head. No, it wasn't possible. I continued walking, eyes trained on the horizon so hard that when I blinked I could see it etched on the insides of my eyelids. But it was still there, and finally I turned and narrowed my eyes at the figure lying on the ground.

_Oh, my god. _

It was Father, his clothes dirty and his wig askew. And he was as still as stone. I abandoned all thought and ran to him. When I was close enough to see him clearly, I stopped, afraid to go on, afraid of what I might find. Was he…? He didn't move. I couldn't see even the slightest rising and falling of his chest that would mean he was breathing. And then, I noticed something else, on his chest. A stain. Red.

_No. No. No! _

"Father! _Father_!" I didn't go any closer, stood on the edge of an invisible border line, knowing if I went to him and touched him, it would be confirmed, and he _couldn't _be… "Wake up, Father, wake _up_!" I could feel the hot tears pouring down my face already, and I shook my head wildly. No, it couldn't be happening…! As I stared, the sight of him seemed to flicker, dissolve, and come back again, and I cried harder, still unable to bring myself to go grab him, shake him, make him wake up. And then, he disappeared. I stared in shock but it didn't seem to matter. _Maybe he moved on, to the next world. He's not in the Locker, at least. _

I stumbled on again, tears blurring my vision every now and then, but it didn't matter. The landscape was all the same, anyway, in fact, so crisp and flat and hot that I sat down and closed my eyes for a minute, breathing deeply. Father was gone. I had thought losing Mother would be enough and that I wouldn't lose anyone else…

I opened my eyes again. When I escaped from this place I would find out who had killed him, and I would have vengeance. I stood up and again, saw something.

_What's wrong with this place, people showing up in the middle of nowhere? _

I turned to look. There couldn't be anything worse than what I had already seen.

My jaw dropped. There _could. _He stood there. Beckett, taking in the sight of me with my tear-stained face, and he smirked.

I stared in horror. _Beckett. _Of course! I stepped closer, drawing my sword.

"It was you, wasn't it?" I demanded. "It was you!"

"He chose it," said Beckett smoothly. "It was his own fault."

"How dare you?!" I screamed, and swung the blade at his neck. The strangest thing happened.

He, too, disappeared, but reappeared again. I tried to stab him again, but again his imaged dissolved and when my sword was out of his way he was back.

I tried again, and again, but he was forever evading me, and laughing, mocking me.

"Stop!" I shouted wildly. "Don't run, coward! I'll have my revenge for Father!" I swung the sword again and again, but he was disappearing, elusive. I spun around, trying to cut into flesh, but I couldn't, and my mind spun as well, not focusing on anything. The world seemed to be moving faster, turning and turning, and I resorted to moving my arm insanely in any direction I could, screaming words that were incomprehensible, incoherent, my face hot and wet with tears, salty on my lips. I could only scream now, my sword falling to the ground.

"Come back! _Come back!_"

My vision was failing, and I was falling, falling… into someone's arms, and whoever it was, I could feel, lifted me up, holding me tightly. I struggled but the person was strong and my protests dissolved into sobs, and then those died away as well and I lost consciousness altogether.

* * *

**_Jack_ **

At first I thought I was hallucinating. I had picked up her coat and then seen her—screaming at no one, stabbing at the air.

"Lizzie…?" I muttered, but though she should have been able to hear in the emptiness, she couldn't, and that was when I realized _she _was the one seeing things. If I hadn't decided to come bring her back after all, she might have died from the exhaustion of trying to kill a hallucination.

And now I looked at her, lying in my bed with her hair spread out across the pillow like a fan, taking long deep breaths as she slept. She looked so peaceful that I almost believed she was, and then reminded myself that most likely she was having battles raging in her mind even in her dreams.

_What does she dream about? _

I let out a long breath in annoyance. Why would I care?!

But there was an itching curiosity… I told myself firmly it was only because I had nothing better to think about, no treasure occupying my mind, no plan to formulate at the moment, and convinced myself it was true.

_The nerve of her! Passing fancies… passing delicious fancies… _

_She's just a wench, just a wench, just another damn wench! _

Elizabeth stirred in her sleep and murmured, "Not Jack…!" I watched, fascinated. _She has dreams involving me, eh? How very interesting. _I daringly reached out and stroked her forehead, and drew back quickly. Her skin was burning, hair damp with sweat. _As if she's not hot enough here. _I ransacked the ship and found a small container of water that, upon sampling, was safe. I dipped a cloth into it, pondering the fact that apparently dead or half-dead people could get ill. Then, very carefully, I squeezed it over her face so that a few drops fell onto her dry, cracked lips, moistening them, then slid into her mouth. I wet the cloth again and laid it on her forehead, and she shifted a little under the sudden coolness.

"Go away, go away," she said feverishly.

"Lizzie," I muttered, grudgingly admitting that I needed company in this wretched place she had gotten us into.

And suddenly she sat up straight, the cloth falling into her lap. Her eyes flew open, blazing with fire, and they were glaring at me.

Oh, bugger.

"What are you doing here?" she screamed. "What—" She stopped, picking at a few threads on her shirt. "Why am I back here…?" And as she remembered, she panicked. "Father—and Beckett! I was fighting—he kept disappearing… Father! He's killed Father!" 

"Lizzie," I said calmly, pushing her back down to a lying position and replacing the cloth, "I told ye that you'd go mad."

**_Elizabeth_ **

I closed my eyes for a moment and opened them again.

"So it was all… in my head?" I asked, feeling humiliated. "It was just my mind?"

"Aye, luv, and now ye've got a bloody fever."

I frowned. "So that's what the Locker does, then? That's why it's torture?"

"I s'pose." And then he shouted, "Are ye daft, Lizzie?! Is _your_ Locker safe t'travel through? I'm having a word with Davy Jones if yers accommodates ye!"

"What? _My _Locker?"

"Oh, of course. I'd forgotten ye were a guv'ner's daughter, _Miss Swann._ Don't hear 'bout these things, do you?"

"Apparently not."

"The Locker, Lizzie, is your very own personally-designed-just-fer-you hell! No two people have the same one, savvy?"

It took a moment for this information to sink in, before I sat up and asked, "So what is your Locker?"

Jack sighed. "A desert. Endless desert. No water. Just land. Flat."

My jaw dropped. "But…"

Jack turned to stare at me. "Not possible."

"It's true…"

There was a long silence. _Jack has the same hell as me…? Is that good or bad?! _

"Why don't you have hallucinations?" I asked. He pulled me closer all of a sudden, an expression of what looked like wonder on his face. I blinked awkwardly. I could count his eyelashes…

"I think," said Jack, "tis because I have company."

I pulled away, cheeks burning furiously.

"Jack, could we just forget it? I don't want to think about it… I—I know what's happening, I should have figured out earlier—I'm so blind…! But I don't want it to happen, it's not right, it doesn't make sense, but it's true. But I don't want it to happen. Do you think we could just forget? That if we left it alone it would stop?" I said this slowly at first but my voice started getting faster and faster until the end came out in a rush.

Jack stared at me with a completely bemused expression, but I could see that it was hiding something.

"Please, please, let's just forget it," I begged. "We have to focus on getting rescued."

"Darling, _we_ can't do anything about that," said Jack. "We can only wait… and perhaps find something to occupy ourselves."

I bit my lip, trying not to look at him.

"Not this," I said. "Something else."

"Nothing left," said Jack.

"Then just wait! Just not this. Anything but this. We can't be doing this. Can't you see? I'm _engaged._"

"Not at the moment, you're not, dearie," Jack smirked.

I shot him an anguished glare and sank down to the floor, pressing the heels of my hands into my forehead. _Why is he tormenting me so? Does he expect me to pay for my betrayal with… with—love…?! _

"I don't want to fall in love again," I whispered. 


End file.
